Gianni Maria Covatta (born 11 June 1956), best known as Giobbe Covatta, is an Italian stand-up comedian, actor, writer and politician.

Life and career

Born in

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

and raised in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, following appearances on various variety shows, Covatta had his breakout in 1990 as a recurring guest on the

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

talk show '' Maurizio Costanzo Show'', where he read his comical compositions inspired by the Bible.Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. "Covatta, Giobbe". ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsilio, 2009. . These sketches eventually inspired a book, ''Parola di Giobbe'', which was released in 1991 and got an immediate success, selling over a million copies and getting over thirty editions. In the later years, Covatta published other books, notably ''Pancreas'', a parody of

Edmondo De Amicis Edmondo De Amicis (; 21 October 1846 – 11 March 1908) was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer. His best-known book is the children's novel ''Heart''. Early career Born in Oneglia (today part of the city of Imperia), h ...

' ''

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

'', and was active as an actor in films, television series and on stage. In 2006, Covatta was elected councilor of the

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens (, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. The FdV was part of the Eur ...

party in the Rome local elections. In 2015, he was elected national spokesperson of the party, still maintaining he did not consider himself a politician.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Covatta, Giobbe 1956 births Living people Actors from Taranto Male actors from Apulia Italian male film actors Italian male stage actors Italian male television actors Italian male comedians Federation of the Greens politicians Italian humorists Italian male writers Italian stand-up comedians